I know I'm harsh mate. Trust me, I rate his effort and commitment (and free kicks). However, reality says that if he's starting in our CM, we're around the relegation level. He's not my scapegoat, but more so one of several symptoms of what ails us (Brown and O'Shea and their Zimmer frames are in there too among others).
I get where your coming from, but as Funky has pointed out elsewhere, we can't make large whole-scale changes. We need to build around a core and change a few at a time, and he's definitely one to build around for a couple of seasons until his his turn to be moved on. You mentioned about him being a re-invented CM, but players get re-invented all the time. I may be wrong but wasn't Connor a CM early on before being tried out up-front? I might be wrong about that mind! There must be better examples Rooney? (Not as a CM obviously)
Dave Watson came to Sunderland from Rotherham as a centre forward - he was terrible ! He did alright, though, when Bob transformed him into a rather good centre half
Me too, Seb is a consistent Premier League Midfielder, his stats beat many who are considered 'better' players in the league.
Here we go, compared to three CMs who are widely considered better than seb, players who attract attention and are bigged up in the football world as quality midfielders and who you'd expect to deliver more than Larrson going by the way the 'experts' go on. Larsson getting our best player doesn't represent how poor we are, it represents how good a season he's had. Nice one Seb, more to you than good looks. please log in to view this image Edit. I seem not to have added goals when I intended to. 5 for Coutinho and 3 apiece for the others
They are blinking good stats, that confirm to me that some people have no appreciation, or understanding of the game, perhaps, and just need someone to pick on, when they should just shut up There's an arsehole that sits behind me in the Fulwell End (yes, that's what we call it) that has obviously never actually played football, otherwise he wouldn't make the absolutely stupid comments that he does, at every game, about Seb . . . . he just seems to have decided that he's his target He is just a ****ing ****er (the arsehole - not the Swede)
Sunderland's Seb Larsson says Player of the Year award will mean little without survival 08:30, 14 May 2015 By James Hunter Seb Larsson says Sunderland must clinch Premier League survival before he can really begin to enjoy his individual award 2015 Getty Images please log in to view this image Sebastian Larsson Seb Larsson insists his Player of the Year award will be scant consolation if Sunderland lose their fight against relegation. The Sweden international’s consistent performances over the course of the campaign have been recognised by the fans, with members of the Sunderland Supporters’ Association voting for him to win their top honour ahead of fellow midfielder Lee Cattermole and goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon. The 29-year-old picked up the award at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday but, while he was delighted to have won the fans’ vote, he admits individual recognition will matter little unless the club retains its Premier League status – which could come as soon as this weekend, if results go in their favour. “Hopefully we’ll only have to wait just a few more days, and if we can secure our status at the weekend then I can reflect back and enjoy the award a little bit more,” said Larsson, who joined Sunderland in 2011. “But if things weren’t to go well then it [the season] would be a total disappointment regardless of any award. “Don’t get me wrong – I am extremely grateful and honoured to win it. “But when you are right in the middle of the fight we are in, fighting hard to make sure we can secure our status in the Premier League, all the focus is on that. “Of course I am very happy about receiving the award, if we do make sure we stay up I am sure I’ll be very proud of it in the summer. “I do feel that I have settled down a lot more this year, and part of that it has taken me longer than I expected to find my feet in the middle of the park. “I felt right at the start of pre-season this year that things are clicking a little bit better for me. “And I think I have managed to keep a consistent performance level throughout the season. “If we do secure our status I will be fairly pleased with my season, and I will be very pleased with the award.” Sunderland will secure survival with two games to spare if they beat relegation rivals Leicester City at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, and third-bottom Hull City drop points at Spurs the same day. With the Leicester game followed by tough trips to Arsenal and Chelsea to round off the season, the pressure is on the Black Cats to win against the Foxes. But Larsson says they have already proved they can handle pressure situation, pointing out that they have notched back-to-back victories against Southampton and Everton in their last two outings – games which few expected the Wearsiders to win – to lift them out of the relegation zone and to within sight of safety. Larsson added: “The Leicester game is huge. Of course it is. “At the same time, the last two games – you can’t really get much bigger than those. “It’s been about winning them, or else we would have been gone. “Probably most people would have expected us to not get many points from the last two games, and we managed to get six points so we are up for the fight and we can handle the pressure. “The last couple of games have been absolutely massive for us and have given us a decent chance of staying in the league, but at the same time we need to finish it off and hopefully we can do that this weekend – but there are no guarantees.” He seems to echo a lot our sentiments himself in regards to both this season and seasons before where he wasn't quite right at cm.
Mad init? Before this season I was skeptic of him at cm as he wasn't delivering. But this year he looks a natural. Hats off from me. I was wrong.
It's still not that easy to see the good things he does, apart from the once a game mad rush at the goalie to fire the crowd up! I like what he does without the ball but with it you only ever see him keeping it simple really
Hand picking players and stats does not change the fact that Seb should not be a starting CM (in my opinion). For example, there's no stats up there on headers won/lost, dribbling, tackles lost, markers lost, errors, time on ball and pace/speed. By all means, keep as part of the squad - his durability, commitment, general passing and dead ball skills are handy. I just don't see him as a starting calibre CM for mid table side.
I believe that Seb has deserved this award this season..He has impressed me immensely, and it is not just because of the effort he has put in..
He and Catts play well together in the middle. Were missing 1 more in there who can score some goals and link up with the forwards. AJ actually looked decent in the role when he came on against leicester or maybe Giacharini when he is fit again. Rodwell was probably bought for that role but has come up short this season. Our squad needs major surgery, we need a RB, 2 x centre backs a goalscoring midfielder and 2 x fast strong wingers. Out: Rodwell Buckley Alvarez Graham Giacharini AJ (maybe in prison) Brown (to retire shurely) Fletcher Coates In Right back 2 x Centre backs Goal Scoring Midfielder 2 x wingers Striker MINIMUM.
You can quote me when you're talking to me. I'm human you know? Talk to me, not at me. You pick the players then. Tackling is up there, take another look. Markers lost isn't an available stat neither is time on the ball and pace/speed. I can give you errors and dribbling and headers. please log in to view this image I do a say stats don't tell the whole story but if you're picking my efforts apart fair does. The biggest thing I've noticed in these stats is you fella. You watch football but you clearly don't see it. I was skeptical of Seb right up to this season, but a blind, deaf and dumb person can see he's earned his place and deserves to be there at the start of next season 100%. It's called credit where it's due.
Funky - I had no intention of talking at you. I just struggle with the whole quoting thing and can't be bothered figuring it out to be honest. Either way, it has no bearing on our discussion/debate and you can safely assume that I respect your opinion and only have an interest in the truth. The truth regarding Seb and whether he's a mid-table calibre starting CM is up for serious debate in my view. I don't doubt that he was one of our better players this season (maybe even the best depending on who you ask), but to me that says more about how bad our season was rather than how good Seb actually is in the grand scheme of things. I never said Seb was complete garbage or that we should get rid of him. I just think he should not be a starting CM for us if we want to be mid table. As squad filler (i.e. on the bench, occasional starter) he's perfectly ok and indeed an asset. I respectfully disagree with you that comparing him with Shelvey (often slated, plays for a better side), Sissoko (a starting CM for a relegation quality team) and Coutinho (22yo AM who plays with far better players) says enough for us to work with in this debate. In saying that, you may well be completely right about Seb as a CM (and I completely wrong) and I'd like to do you the courtesy of giving this comparison site a go with some different players and stats. Is there a link I can use? PS: I'm a big fan of sporting analytics (particularly with basketball). Sadly, football analytics is a long way behind on this front and has too many holes in it. But I am dead keen to see if this comparison site can cut some mustard.
Sorry fella. Just press reply on the post you want to quote fella. here you go fella. http://www.squawka.com/comparison-matrix it's opta data so the most accurate in the game. However, ignore defence and attack score as that's flawed to ****. It's a good site fella, frustrating it doesn't do speed and distance covered but it's still more in depth and accurate than any other except opta itself but that's a pay site for Journos which the papers, bbc and sky use. Also give this a look http://www.squawka.com/teams/sunderland/results Click on detailed match stats for an unbeliveably in depth stat break down of that match, compare teams, players and layer player stats. Also there's a drag bar where you can select a segment of the match, remember when you open the page the time line is set to the 90th minute. Have fun and remember it's an opta engine so it's accurate as it comes.
Ah, there it is!!! Thanks for bringing me out of the dark ages. Thanks also for the links, I'll definitely give them a go I'll try some mid table CMs and see if I can poke some holes in Seb BRING ON NEXT SEASON!!!!!!!!!
This is a start. It looks like Larsson struggles with the following compared to some of the mid-table CMs: (NB: I made the stats come our on a per 90 minute basis where possible) Aerial duels - we really need someone who can do this and Larsson isn't the only one to blame Pass completetion (the 2 to 3% he's down here is a chunky difference) Completed passes - he's well behind here, whether forwards or backwards, which shows he doesn't impose himself on the game as well (even though he's working his nuts off)
